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Every table had “bottomless” vodka bottles from a producer in St. Petersburg – in order to refill shot glasses for the numerous toasts all evening long, Podvoyre (Dacha Terem) Restaurant, St. Petersburg, Russia

Following our tours of Paul’s Palace and Cahterine’s Palace [see our two previous blog posts], we drove a short distance for a typical country-style dinner with music and dancing at Podvoyre (Dacha Terem) Restaurant. The Podvoyre restaurant, whose name means “the court” is located halfway between the Tsarskoye Selo Palace (Catherine’s Palace) and Pavlosk. [The Russian “terem” means “wooden palace”.] Its wooden turrets are reminiscent of the typical architecture of ancient Russia. Note that the vodka (and wine) flowed freely all evening (unlimited refills), and there were a lot of “wod-ka” toasts among our group of 90 from the ship.

Over the course of the evening we were entertained by musicians and two groups of local dancers – performing folkloric melodies and dancing traditional dances, Podvoyre (Dacha Terem) Restaurant, St. Petersburg, Russia

The restaurant is housed in a typical Russian log house and its interior is filled with wooden panels and bear skins hanging on the walls. Inside, several rooms decorated with folk art works are intended to recreate the atmosphere of the old festive meal. Often, a folk ensemble animates the atmosphere. Among the diners are many tourists but also Russians who come for business or family meals. This is a restaurant frequented by the country’s president (Putin) and foreign guests. The restaurant boasts that it is considered “the most Russian of all Russian restaurants.” With the musicians and dancers, vodka and wine, and typical Russian country-style dinner, it was a festive dinner that was a great way to end a long day of touring and “revisiting” Russia’s days of glory in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The accordion player was quite a character, Podvoyre (Dacha Terem) Restaurant, St. Petersburg, Russia

Our table afforded us an excellent view of the folklore musicians and dancers, Podvoyre (Dacha Terem) Restaurant, St. Petersburg, Russia